Rep. Kennedy Instructed To Refrain From Communion Over Support For Abortion Rights

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 25 Nov 2009 - 5:00 PDT

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Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) on Sunday said he had been instructed by the Roman Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Providence to refrain from receiving Holy Communion because of his support for abortion rights, the New York Times reports. In an interview with the Providence Journal, Kennedy said Bishop Thomas Tobin "instructed me not to take Communion and said that he has instructed the diocesan priests not to give me Communion." Tobin said in a statement on Sunday that his instructions to Kennedy were given in a private letter on Feb. 21, 2007, and that he was surprised Kennedy had chosen to reopen the discussion two weeks after saying he would no longer comment publicly on his faith.

The Times reports that the incident is the "most recent escalation in an unusually personal dispute" between Kennedy and Tobin. The dispute started in October when Kennedy criticized U.S. bishops for threatening to oppose health care reform legislation unless more restrictions on abortion coverage were included. Kennedy said at the time that he did not understand "how the Catholic Church could be against the biggest social justice issue of our time," a reference to expanding health care access. He added that the church's stance was fanning "flames of dissent and discord." Tobin responded to Kennedy's criticisms by saying the lawmaker was committing "false advertising" for describing himself as a Catholic while supporting abortion rights (Urbina, New York Times, 11/23).

In his statement on Sunday, Tobin said he has "no desire to continue the discussion" of Kennedy's "spiritual life in public." However, "I will absolutely respond publicly and strongly whenever he attacks the Catholic Church, misrepresents the teachings of the church or issues inaccurate statements about my pastoral ministry," he added (Saltzman, Boston Globe, 11/23).

Additional Coverage

NBC's "Nightly News" on Monday reported on the dispute between Tobin and Kennedy, as well as the church's involvement in various political debates (Allen, "Nightly News," NBC, 11/23). In addition, MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews" featured a discussion with Tobin about the issue (Matthews, "Hardball with Chris Matthews," MSNBC, 11/23).

The AP/Yahoo! News on Tuesday examined how the conflict between Tobin and Kennedy "has revealed the depth of the divide among Catholics over how politicians should reconcile their faith with their public duties" (Henry, AP/Yahoo! News, 11/24).

In related news, NPR's "All Things Considered" reported on the church's opposition to political issues that go against church teachings, such as same-sex marriage and embryonic stem cell research (Bradley Hagerty, "All Things Considered," NPR, 11/23).

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